Workshops

San Francisco Center for the Book offers more than 300 workshops each year in three broad categories: Printing, Binding, and Related Arts. Registration begins as soon as each trimester's workshops are announced, and continues throughout the trimester. You are encouraged to register early, as class size is limited and workshops are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. We encourage you to register online, though you are welcome to register in person or by phone at 415-565-0545. Please note that we cannot reserve your place in a workshop without having received full payment. If the workshop is already full, you will be placed on a wait list and notified if space becomes available. Please visit our Registrations Policies page for complete information.

Submit your email address if you are interested in being added to the San Francisco Center for the Book mailing list to receive information on featured workshops, exhibitions and special events. After you enter your email address, you will receive an email request to confirm your subscription.

Scroll through the complete workshop listing below. Click on a heading to sort the list by workshop type, instructor, date, etc. You can also view workshop categories via the menu bar – select All Workshops and a sub-menu will come up with a choice of printing, binding and arts workshops.

Workshops: All

What kind of book provides all the surprise of a pop-up, and the “wow!” factor of a tunnel book? Carousel books, that’s what! Also known as a “star” book, this structure provides endless opportunities for design and experimentation.

Dig in to the tradition and history of letterpress printing and get your hands dirty. Learn about the process and practice of setting type, mixing inks and pulling impressions. In this class you will learn how to print your own cards!

Learn the fundamentals of digital design for letterpress! Students will learn key skills for software applications like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. We will explore best practices for handling photographic and vector images as well as setting digital type for photopolymer plate production.

To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, we begin at the beginning. This, the first of our Core Bookbinding series, introduces students to the craft with the Coptic stitch, one of the earliest structures in binding.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Hand lettering for all, even those with the shakiest of handwriting! Ease into the art of calligraphy with this beginning class in penmanship, letter formation, layout techniques, and calligraphic processes and materials.

Dionysus says beware of creeping elegance, don’t be afraid to lose yourself and make a mess; Apollo says let’s sort this mess out and make it into something meaningful, harmonious, orderly. In Book of You—Part Two we will be guided by the voices of both of these ancient Greek gods that in balance resulted in the profundity of their highest art forms.

Make fantastic illuminated letters! Beginners to advanced students will learn a traditional method for drawing well-balanced letters, will explore the close interaction of lines, and move forward to design and refine a single initial letter with drawn or colored elements. Individual results can range from simple and geometric to curved and organic using this dynamic model. Motifs and background patterns will be discussed.

In this second Core Bookbinding class, students will create what most of us refer to as a hardbound book. In bookbinding terms, it is known as a case binding; where a sewn textblock is glued into a separate structure known as a case.

Learn to animate and add interactivity to your electronic books with crafted switches, sensors, and controllers! In this workshop we will expand the skills and knowledge learned in E-luminated Books Part 1.

In centuries past, books were sometimes sewn onto cords and then laced into soft covers before being bound for a specific collection or library. In this class students will bind a book using these bindings as a model but employing thick paper as the folded and laced wrapper.

While bookbinding and book repair share many skills and techniques, they are also distinct pursuits. This course is intended to introduce the student familiar with bookbinding to key practices within basic book repair.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Develop your letterpress design skills and aesthetic while increasing your letterpress versatility: learn to set up the press, refine your registration skills, and run an edition. Learn more about packing, setting gauge pins, and make-ready. Come ready to run an edition of your own small poster!

Design and aesthetic. Increase your letterpress versatility: learn to set up the press, refine you registration skills, and run an edition. Learn more about packing, roller height, and make-ready. Come ready to run an edition of your own small poster!

Dig in to the tradition and history of letterpress printing and get your hands dirty. Learn about the process and practice of setting type, mixing inks and pulling impressions. In this class you will learn how to print your own cards!

Bring digital back into analog in this final Core Certificate Program course and learn to print from photopolymer plates. Apply your letterpress skills to artwork created digitally to make the plates print fantastic. Walk away with a stack of greeting cards printed from polymer plates.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

A special kind of creative magic awaits you in this workshop. You will learn basic on-the-fold pop-up structures, then progress through a series of more complicated three-dimensional glued constructions. Props, platforms, spirals, V-folds and straddle pop-ups will be covered.

Hand lettering for all, even those with the shakiest of handwriting! Ease into the art of calligraphy with this beginning class in penmanship, letter formation, layout techniques, and calligraphic processes and materials.

Learn the fundamentals of digital design for letterpress! Students will learn key skills for software applications like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. We will explore best practices for handling photographic and vector images as well as setting digital type for photopolymer plate production.

Bring digital back into analog in this final core course and learn to print from photopolymer plates. Apply your letterpress skills to artwork created digitally to make fantastic plates for printing. Walk away with a stack of greeting cards printed from polymer plates.

To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, we begin at the beginning. This, the first of our Core Bookbinding series, introduces students to the craft with the Coptic stitch, one of the earliest structures in binding.

To paraphrase Lewis Carroll, we begin at the beginning. This, the first of our Core Bookbinding series, introduces students to the craft with the Coptic stitch, one of the earliest structures in binding.

Let your fingers loose and watch your wrists dance with these broad edge pen twists, rotations, slides and pivots. Poise at the top and skate down the page with new moves. Learning how to make these Bone Alphabet letters promotes rhythm and greater flexibility for invention of all kinds of forms that will enliven your drawing and bring freedom and expression to your writing.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Learn image transfer techniques for paper arts, collage, fiber arts, and more. Students will receive instruction in the best methods for combining, transferring, and layering found and created imagery and text in their work.

Letterpress as a Business is a three hour seminar for those who have started, and those who would like to start, a commercial letterpress business. We will discuss some basic business models, target clientele, and ways to advertise.

Dig in to the tradition and history of letterpress printing and get your hands dirty. Learn about the process and practice of setting type, mixing inks and pulling impressions. In this class you will learn how to print your own cards!

Learn to combine papercraft techniques with friendly, accessible electronics materials like copper tape, flat batteries, and bead-like LED lights. In this daylong course, we will apply these techniques to make glowing, interactive tunnel books that make creative use of light and shadow.

Hand lettering for all, even those with the shakiest of handwriting! Ease into the art of calligraphy with this beginning class in penmanship, letter formation, layout techniques, and calligraphic processes and materials.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Long before Photoshop, artists saw the power of mixing images to create unseen vistas and surrealistic landscapes. Using only paper, glue, and a sharp knife an artist can create images that rival those created on a computer.

A sketchbook/daybook is an extension of your creative process – a place where you collect ideas, notes, sketches and diagrams. Over the course of this six hour class, students will learn three different binding methods, ranging from “easy” to “advanced”.

Learn to animate and add interactivity to your electronic books with crafted switches, sensors, and controllers! In this workshop we will expand the skills and knowledge learned in E-luminated Books Part 1.

Punctuation, patterns and large areas of texture are often the weakest areas in calligraphy and hand lettering projects. This workshop presents exercises for point and edge that can support and enrich your lettering art, painting, or printed page. Get to know the full range of the potential of dot and line so that these marks contribute to your message and are never left to chance.

Strong, elegant, and pleasing to use, this binding was the “daybook” of choice for the great Romantic English poets and artists. Learn this structure in this full day class with Master Binder Michael Burke.

This ingeniously designed album is a new offering from Michael Burke this year, and is the perfect accompaniment to the Ideal Sketchbook. This structure is an extremely elegant one suitable for presenting suites of prints, drawings or photographs

In this second Core Bookbinding class, students will create what most of us refer to as a hardbound book. In bookbinding terms, it is known as a case binding; where a sewn textblock is glued into a separate structure known as a case.

Dominic’s design bindings are known for their use of color, playfulness and experimentation. This class will introduce you to a range of techniques he uses in his creative work, including both innovative leather work and free-from gold tooling.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Dig in to the tradition and history of letterpress printing and get your hands dirty. Learn about the process and practice of setting type, mixing inks and pulling impressions. In this class you will learn how to print your own cards!

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

St, Cuthbert’s Gospel is a small binding, very beautiful and exquisitely made, and is of tremendous importance to bookbinders not only as an example of early English binding, with its intriguing construction, but also for its decoration, which draws on both Islamic, Celtic, and Anglo-Saxon influences.

Hand lettering for all, even those with the shakiest of handwriting! Ease into the art of calligraphy with this beginning class in penmanship, letter formation, layout techniques, and calligraphic processes and materials.

Become one with the brush as you practice the techniques of dishu, the art of writing on the ground. A series of structured and free-form exercises will introduce you to the concept, forms, and process of drawing with the giant brush. We’ll practice indoors with ink and move outside to work on the ground with water. Ephemeral graffiti!

Strong, elegant, and pleasing to use, this binding was the “daybook” of choice for the great Romantic English poets and artists. Learn this structure in this full day class with Master Binder Dominic Riley.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Design and aesthetic. Increase your letterpress versatility: learn to set up the press, refine you registration skills, and run an edition. Learn more about packing, roller height, and make-ready. Come ready to run an edition of your own small poster!

Finally! An all day image transfer class! Learn the core methods for transferring images and text to all surfaces: paper, fabric, wood and metal, then spend the day playing and exploring the world of image transfers.

In centuries past, books were sometimes sewn onto cords and then laced into soft covers before being bound for a specific collection or library. In this class students will bind a book using these bindings as a model but employing thick paper as the folded and laced wrapper.

Develop your letterpress design skills and aesthetic while increasing your letterpress versatility: learn to set up the press, refine your registration skills, and run an edition. Learn more about packing, setting gauge pins, and make-ready. Come ready to run an edition of your own small poster!

Bring digital back into analog in this final Core Certificate Program course and learn to print from photopolymer plates. Apply your letterpress skills to artwork created digitally to make the plates print fantastic. Walk away with a stack of greeting cards printed from polymer plates.

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

Are you longing to take your bookbinding to the next level? Take this one day, beginner’s level class on the exquisite longstitch! Not only will you learn the ins and outs of this traditional German, non-adhesive, stitch pattern binding, but you’ll also learn to laminate decorative papers to create sturdy and malleable book covers.

Bring digital back into analog in this final core course and learn to print from photopolymer plates. Apply your letterpress skills to artwork created digitally to make fantastic plates for printing. Walk away with a stack of greeting cards printed from polymer plates.

The four class Cylinder Core Certificate Program allows students to move quickly through the press basics while also addressing relief printing in general. After this class students are qualified to rent press time as well as move on to more advanced classes and techniques.

Hand lettering for all, even those with the shakiest of handwriting! Ease into the art of calligraphy with this beginning class in penmanship, letter formation, layout techniques, and calligraphic processes and materials.

Learn the fundamentals of digital design for letterpress! Students will learn key skills for software applications like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. We will explore best practices for handling photographic and vector images as well as setting digital type for photopolymer plate production.

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking. It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them work in our bindery.

What is a “Flim Flam book”? Imagine the surprise element of a Jacob’s Ladder structure combined with the possibilities of a flip book and you’ll have an idea of what kind of flim flam we’ll be creating!

Learn basic bookbinding structures and stitches that every book artist should know in this three-hour workshop. If you’ve ever been curious about how to make a book, Introduction to Bookbinding is the place to start. One workshop, five booklets!

While bookbinding and book repair share many skills and techniques, they are also distinct pursuits. This course is intended to introduce the student familiar with bookbinding to key practices within basic book repair.